So when a film company that was about to make a Steve McQueen film in France decided they needed someone to be an interpreter , I actually did not tell them that the kind of French that I spoke was medieval French.And I spent the next several months making up words for things that they didn't know about yet in medieval times.
in my own way too ambitious so I say to my man my interpreter who I must trust completely I don't know what I should do maybe we should return fact maybe justmaybe I should return and then he said no it's safe the next day Abdullah sends
Kiss we set out cross the border My Bodyguard my interpreter and me a man waiting on a ridge holding a rifle there no rif no men carry rifles in Afghanistan anymoreexcept Soldiers the Americans and NATO disarmed everybody they welcomed me gave
They're not translators, but they're often called translators. Interpreters for the deaf.Yes. Yes. So these three all happen to be interpreters for the deaf.
And the reason that I picked them is because you can see the language that they are communicating in, whereas there are also spoken language interpreters , like at the United Nations.And a lot of people call them translators.
and for translators as well. Interpreters have the additional challenge for having to have this information in their head when they're working.Translators have to have a lot of information in their heads because they have to work quickly and efficiently.
this is what's kind of boiled my blood a bit this week but we've heard this week about a um a decision in Iraq to ban interpreters from wearing masks when they're out with American soldiers now this is important because interpreters are probably putting their lives at riskmore than Americans because their families are at risk you know just being identified it's almost a death warrant and because we want I don't know what
throw the headset in anger, and wouldn't be able to make further instructions The interpreter mentioned being questioned by the fuming coach if they sent out the instruction, and he said yes, but he said it was really scary That is how heated the players and the games get, there's the data, but at the end of the
And the reason I told you about my background because you might wonder how did I go from in a real monolingual town to becoming an interpreter . And I learned Spanish in school. And there were lots of migrant workers in the surrounding towns.
Have you heard this story. Community interpreters , interpreters who work in courts and hospitals and who are actually the most popular type of interpreter , the most common,
And also there was something built in that was not so much Confucius himself, but one of his main interpreters , early interpreters , mens, had this idea, which can be seen as a crude justification for rebellion or for a kind of democracy to say that even though the emperor rules at the will of heaven, if he doesn't act like a true emperor,
Have you heard this story. Most interpreters and translators are freelancers.
Have you heard this story. Conference interpreters -- speech to speech.
We spoke in a mix of languages, continuously switching from Ukrainian to Russian to English. So the interpreter was barely hanging on. It was indeed, in many ways, a wild ride of a conversation.
And he was killed - they were shot. It was a mass... Could the interpreter please translate?
I was really thrown into school, and there was no ESL class. There was no interpreter for my parents. There was no kind of trying to mitigate that divide between people who don't speak the language or understand the culture and the ongoing society.
So I think a lifetime of not being totally at home in one culture but having a foot in each one made me an interpreter for my peers in both countries. And so it was just, I had the practice of doing it.
So I'd like you to all use your hands to give a warm welcome to Nyle DiMarco. NYLE DIMARCO THROUGH INTERPRETER : Hi. Thank you all for coming.
So we're very grateful. NYLE DIMARCO THROUGH INTERPRETER : I'm really glad I could make time to come today. Accessibility week is really about educating people about what accessibility means, the fact that disabled people walk the Earth,
You come from a deaf family, right? NYLE DIMARCO THROUGH INTERPRETER : That's right. How many deaf people in their family?
How many deaf people in their family? NYLE DIMARCO THROUGH INTERPRETER : We have over 25 deaf members of our family. Wow. NYLE DIMARCO THROUGH INTERPRETER : Which means that my two brothers are deaf, my parents and my grandparents and great grandparents are all deaf.
What has that journey been like for you? NYLE DIMARCO THROUGH INTERPRETER : So first off, only 10% of deaf children come from a deaf family. And so I tend to consider myself fortunate because, growing up, I had access to language and communication and love.
with your family, right? NYLE DIMARCO THROUGH INTERPRETER : That's right. But then when you stepped out of your family into the community, what was that like?
But then when you stepped out of your family into the community, what was that like? NYLE DIMARCO THROUGH INTERPRETER : Well, I was born and raised in Queens, New York, and so there was a lot of people. It was a big city.
Wow. Definitely. And then breaking down those barriers with your education, it gives you more of an opportunity to grow, right? NYLE DIMARCO THROUGH INTERPRETER : Definitely. If you have a language foundation at a young age, by the time you're five or six years old, you're able to express your feelings, your emotions
Yeah. And I totally agree, that every child really needs to have that strong personal identity, no matter who that child is, to think that they're capable. NYLE DIMARCO THROUGH INTERPRETER : Absolutely. And as you know, we both being deaf, when we go out in the community where hearing people are, sometimes they see us as different,
Yeah, I think that's just really funny because people think, OK, if you can't hear, that means you can't walk. NYLE DIMARCO THROUGH INTERPRETER : Right. I just don't get how they make that connection.
I just don't get how they make that connection. NYLE DIMARCO THROUGH INTERPRETER : And we obviously walked into the airplane, so-- Yeah, right. So it makes you think, OK, how is it-- I guess maybe the airlines are trying to provide the most service they can.
But it's just odd, isn't it? NYLE DIMARCO THROUGH INTERPRETER : I guess so, but they obviously need to figure out a better system. I'm not sure what that would look like, but maybe we can ask-- if I ask for one, they provide it, if not, they don't.
I guess that must be their customer service model or something. NYLE DIMARCO THROUGH INTERPRETER : Yeah, I guess maybe. But it makes it worse if they just go ahead and provide it just in case.
and that they blanketly assign that characterization to all disabilities or something. NYLE DIMARCO THROUGH INTERPRETER : Right. Well, I was wondering, deaf people are part of the disabled community, but we need a different type of access.
And then secondly, why do you think we at Google should care about this? NYLE DIMARCO THROUGH INTERPRETER : OK. Well, language deprivation is what millions of deaf children-- they reach the age of five without any language foundation.
Well, why should we at Google care about this? NYLE DIMARCO THROUGH INTERPRETER : Ah, right. Well, why you should care is because there are millions and millions of deaf people worldwide.
and with their personal growth as well, right? NYLE DIMARCO THROUGH INTERPRETER : Yes, that's one of my biggest goals. Because I realized with my upbringing, I thought that all deaf lives were similar to mine, but there's only 2% of deaf people
What other technical solutions do you think should be improved to help improve deaf people's lives as well as deaf children? NYLE DIMARCO THROUGH INTERPRETER : Other types of technology-- AR and VR. Well, is there anything else?
Like, for example, home systems? NYLE DIMARCO THROUGH INTERPRETER : That's right. We discussed a bit about that a little bit before this.
And we're like, oh. NYLE DIMARCO THROUGH INTERPRETER : Oh, right. I have a funny story.
Now, can't we come up with some technology that's going to solve this issue so that-- make his fans happy? NYLE DIMARCO THROUGH INTERPRETER : Right. Definitely. And it's embarrassing, too.
What should they be thinking about? NYLE DIMARCO THROUGH INTERPRETER : Well, first off is an obvious one. Always be sure to include deaf people or deaf people in the process of their own specialty.
How can we use that data to help deaf children experience less language deprivation? NYLE DIMARCO THROUGH INTERPRETER : Well, I think companies can start developing VR or programs as far as-- and data collection can be parallel to work with deaf organizations, like I mentioned LEAD-K and organizations like that.
And they might not be technically proficient themselves, but yet, this technology, if we hand it over to them, it's going to change their lives, right? NYLE DIMARCO THROUGH INTERPRETER : Oh, absolutely. And the deaf community, they can build a bridge to the world because they know best what their needs are
to really be able to learn it. NYLE DIMARCO THROUGH INTERPRETER : I think that language acquisition, picking up sign, full immersion is better, so being a part of the deaf community. But I've seen some of my hearing friends, and it seems like they're picking up a lot of signs and basic sign language through apps.
Why is it often difficult for deaf children to get accessibility to learning language? NYLE DIMARCO THROUGH INTERPRETER : It's a very complex question. Bottom line is doctors and speech pathologists tend to not include American Sign Language as an option, or they'll tend to tell the hearing parents,
NYLE DIMARCO THROUGH INTERPRETER : It's a very complex question. NYLE DIMARCO THROUGH INTERPRETER : My answer is the first day of that process.
NYLE DIMARCO THROUGH INTERPRETER : It's a very complex question. NYLE DIMARCO THROUGH INTERPRETER : Yes, exactly.
NYLE DIMARCO THROUGH INTERPRETER : It's a very complex question. NYLE DIMARCO THROUGH INTERPRETER : Well, we partnered with ASL app.
NYLE DIMARCO THROUGH INTERPRETER : It's a very complex question. NYLE DIMARCO THROUGH INTERPRETER : And it's nice for people to learn basic sign language.
NYLE DIMARCO THROUGH INTERPRETER : It's a very complex question. NYLE DIMARCO THROUGH INTERPRETER : Oh, I joined a little bit later, but who built ASL app was deaf people.
NYLE DIMARCO THROUGH INTERPRETER : It's a very complex question. NYLE DIMARCO THROUGH INTERPRETER : Yes, hire them as a consultant.
NYLE DIMARCO THROUGH INTERPRETER : It's a very complex question. NYLE DIMARCO THROUGH INTERPRETER : Right.